Staff Sergeant Reckless at attention, 1959. Staff Sergeant Reckless, an equine Marine, views the 5th Marine Regiment after being promoted by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Randolph Pate, at Camp Pendleton, California on 31 August 1959.
From the Photograph Collection at the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections
In 1952, Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased Reckless from a Korean stableboy to be used to carry ammunition through the mountainous terrain that his platoon was stationed in. The Marines taught her battlefield survival skills, but she was wounded twice in battle. For these wounds, Reckless was awarded two purple hearts.
When the Korean War ended, Reckless was brought to the United States and retired to Camp Pendleton until her death in 1968.
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